6 tips I've learned for organizing my work space

When I first started sewing bags a couple of years ago, I was working out of my dining room. I hated having to put everything away at the end of every work day, so I eventually moved down into our storage room. There at least I could leave my ironing board up, my sewing machine out, and my projects half finished! Then a little more than a year ago, my husband upgraded me to my current space, our former excersize room. Now that it is finished, I feel less embarrassed to share with you a couple of tricks I've learned over this time, on how to organize my space, supplies and projects...

1. One of my problems was always forgetting to turn things off. I can't tell you how many times I've left my iron on, or walked away with my sewing machine lights still burning. So I configured my space and cords (of which there are many!) so that they could all be plugged into one surge protector. I checked with my electrician friend, and he assured me that this a perfectly safe:)  This way, when I start to work, or finish work, I just flip one switch, and everything turns off! There is also another reason I did this...last summer, while I was working, our house got struck by lightening. Fortunately all of my equipment was fine, but I don't want to take any risks. Now I have only ONE plug to unplug durning a bad storm. Ahhh, easy peace of mind :)



Now I have only ONE plug to unplug durning a bad storm. Ahhh, easy peace of mind :)



I have yet to figure out a chic way to hide all of my cords...any ideas?!?!

2. I also have all of my supplies stored in this hideous, bright red, professional tool box.

I camoflauged it by hiding it under my ironing table, but it is still an eye sore.

My soulution? A shower curtain, attached with a tension rod.



I also made myself a

floor mat cover out of the same shower curtain to

cover my ugly, industrial rubber floor mat.

Much cuter, I must say!



3. I got a great idea for storing my piles and piles of fabric. I made little mini fabric bolts out of foam core board. It is like a mini fabric store on my cutting table. I keep as many of my prints and textures as I can on there, with an extra cabinet of solids or pieces which are way too big for the bolts in my closet.  Here is a link to the tutorial where I found the idea...thanks!

4. After trying a tackle box for my small parts, I came up with the economical and cute idea of using different size mason jars. I love the way this looks!



                              



5. I never had enough room on my ironing board for all of my pieces, so I had the idea of transforming a tabletop into my ironing board. I layered a baby crib mattress, bath towel, and Insulated interfacing. Then to make it look better, I topped it all off with a really cute vintage sheet, cut down to size. This is the table I work at 90% of the time, and it works great for me!  

                     

              *disclaimer- The steam on your iron WILL RUIN the table top,even with all of the layers. So PLEASE don't try this on a

table you plan to turn back into a table. Capiche??? Good :)

6. Pegboard. Who knew?? I took a scrap of my Dad's old peg board, painted it blue and Voila, I have a place to keep my tools within easy reach, while adding a punch of color to my room at the same time! This would be a great addition to any craft room, and can be customized a gazillion different ways with different hooks, shelves, colors etc. Have fun with it!

So there it is, a few lessons I've learned from my mistakes! If my studio were tidy-er, I would share some more, but I guess that will have to wait until another day!

 I hope someone else can take some of these tips and find their own creative way to spruce up their work space. I would love to see pictures ;)

Wanna Free Ruffle Bag???

The contest is still active until Friday, September 16th at 3 pm, so go here and read the instructions to win the bag pictured below :)

See me??? I'd be cute on your shoulder :)

My ruffles are so pretty...

I will get you lots of oohs and ahhs...

And don't forget you also get a $15 credit to pick accessories at Beautiful Bits of Grace!

What are you waiting for??? Enter here, and good luck!

New in my shop :) (and some soon to come!!)

I may have been kind of quiet lately in blog land, but I have been busy! Here are some of my latest additions to my Ruffle Purse family :D

In this batch of bags, I'm letting the fabric make a quiet statement. No loud patterns, just subtle, beautiful colors, accented by flirty, fun ruffles. If you see an orange one in Sheboygan, that's me! 

I made one for myself :)

This avocado green is my FAVORITE color for fall!

Getting the Vintage Smell out of Vintage Fabrics

I love nothing more than walking away from a yards sale or thrift shop with a beautiful piece of vintage fabric in my hands. As the saying goes "they just don't make 'em like they used to"!

And anyone who is familiar my work knows I really like to use as much vintage fabric as I can in my bags. It gives me the ability to create items that are a little more unique. A little harder for someone to go to the next hand made shop to find. I love creating combinations of modern and vintage to find that chic, fun look that is just begging for me to discover it!

But  vintage fabrics, can come with a price. A funny smell that comes from years and years of sitting on a shelf, waiting to be discovered :)

Since I have been dealing with this problem for quite a while, I've learned a few tricks to rid that smell as much as possible. After all, who wants someone to notice the smell of their bag before they are able to see how cute it is?!?!

Would you believe I found this fabric as a pair of vintage drapes?? LOVE IT!

First and foremost, when I get home, I wash the fabric with  my favorite home made laundry soap and softener.

 As tempting as this may be to save time and water, I don't recommend skipping the prewash step. The first time I tried this, I went straight to the sink and found my pretty fabrics soaking in a tub of their own filth. Blech.

Next, fill a large sink or tub with enough hot water to cover all of the fabrics you'll be treating.

Someone turned me on to this Febreeze Laundry Odor Eliminator. I found it at Walmart. It was slightly pricey, (I'm dutch, I can't help it!) around $9 a bottle. But it does go a long way. 

 I add one capful of the Fabreeze to my sink which is filled just enough to cover the fabric I'm going to put in it. I then use my hands to mix and squish the fabric around in the hot water, making sure all of the fabric gets fully saturated. This step is actually kinda fun :)

 I let the fabric soak for at least 30 minutes, then transfer it, soaking wet to my washing machine, where I rewash it with my usual laundry products.

 The vinegar as fabric softener is another odor eliminating step. I use it in all of my loads, but I really like to use it with my fabrics. Remember, vinegar smells kind of gross when it goes in, but the smell will be completely gone when the laundry is dry. I promise!

And here is a freshly deodorized load of vintage finds, on my previously deodorized thrift store table cloth :) I can't wait to see what I can make those napkins on the top into....gears turning.....

How I Make My Own Laundry Soap and Fabric Softner

I am a sucker for all things handmade, so when a friend (now I have to plug her FB page...she is too cute!) Rita posted on Facebook that she makes her own detergent, I was intrigued! So I asked her for the recipe, and was shocked at how easy and fun it can be to make your own detergent. The hardest part is going to a couple different stores to get your ingredients...they can be a little tricky to find. And with my kids PILES of laundry, the cost per load savings are Grrrrr-eat!

How do such little bodies make so much laundry?!?!?

Here is Rita's recipe:

1 bar Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated in a food processor)

1 cup Washing SODA (Arm and Hammer brand)
1 cup Borax
...
Mix in a sealed container (or even an old commercial brand box works).

I have an HE/front loader and use approx 1-2 T of powder per load.

Easy-peasy, right? And I swear by it. It even removes the f-u-n-k-y odors I find lingering in my kids clothes! Amy and I make this together, everything is ALWAYS more fun with a friend :)  We like to go online and get ideas, to experiment and change up the recipe a little.

Me and Amy...

To go along with my new soap, I hated to add chemical laden commercial softener, so I did some research online and figured out how to make my own :) I will show you the recipe further down, but first I needed to show off the cute containers I made...total THRIFT STORE finds! I then took my cricut, and cut out vinyl letters as labels and made my  little glass containers cute enough to store on my laundry room counter.

And now for the fabric softener/deoderizer recipe I promised: Get out your paper and pencil, you will need to make a list.

1. White distilled vinegar

Thats it! I love my bottle of vinegar for many things, such as counter cleaner, carpet freshner, you name it, I'm the vinegar queen! So when I realized that I could use it to soften and deoderize my laundry, I was stoked! So I just removed the ugly Heinz label, slapped some vinyl on my vinegar bottle, and I then pour it directly into my machines softener dispenser.

 And before you ask, your clothes WILL NOT smell like a salad. The smell magically dissipates after vinegar dries,  leaving them simply smelling fresh and clean :)

If anyone has anything to add, or any fun laundry room tips, I'd love to hear them! I am also ALWAYS on the lookout for recipies for making my own cleaning products....hint,hint :)

A few things I feel the urge to buy...

                              [Pumpkin Cheesecake Room Spray...can you say YUM?"]

I have realized that a casualty of my job is that I am always finding things that other people make that I feel like I NEED! Here are a few of the things that I've come across... I linked them to their etsy pages, in case you are tempted too :) Enjoy!

To have a cozy for something that makes me feel, well, cozy, is a must."]
Now I can have tea parties :)"][


If I had an apron that made me look this cute and happy, I'd bake every day!
If my clothes smelled like pears, I'd be a happy girl"
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